Great concern over the thousands of West Midlands children without a permanent home

A report to the West Midlands Combined Authority’s (WMCA) overview and scrutiny committee shows the number of families without a permanent home is rising.

Statistics also show that the number of households needing support to prevent them from becoming homeless has also increased in the last year. The number of rough sleepers across the seven WMCA areas is also expected to be higher in 2024 than it was last year.

Members of the committee are due to discuss the WMCA Homelessness Task Force when it meets on Monday (November 25). Government data shows that at the end of March 2024, there were 6,520 households in temporary accommodation – a 17 per cent increase from 5,571 in March 2023.

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Of those 6,520 households, 5,537 had children, representing a 19 per cent increase from the previous year’s 4,657. This means 12,984 children were living in temporary accommodation in March 2024 – a 17 per cent increase compared with the same period in 2023.

The committee report said: “This continuing rise of households having nowhere permanent to live is of great concern.”

Further statistics revealed that – between January and March this year – 5,489 approached local authorities for help and of those, 4,779 were assessed as being owed a ‘prevention or relief duty’. An eight per cent increase on 2023.

The report said: “This indicates that opportunities to prevent homelessness at the earliest opportunity are being missed.”

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It added: “In 2023, 75 people (13 fewer than the previous year) were seen rough sleeping in the annual autumn snapshot, representing a 15 per cent decrease; comparatively the number of people seen rough sleeping nationally and in other regions increased. There is growing intelligence that the situation on the streets has changed considerably in 2024.

“It is likely that the annual snapshot across the region will come in higher than last year. Our work with other regions indicates that it is highly likely that we will also see a significant increase in rough sleeping across England.”

The report also said mayor Richard Parker was supportive of the Task Force and work was now underway on how it can complement his priorities of homes, jobs, growth and journeys for everyone.